"New rules limiting emissions from U.S. power plants that are expected to be proposed on Friday will 'provide certainty' to the coal industry, environment and energy chiefs told lawmakers anxious about the fuel's future."

"'We believe coal will continue to represent a significant portion of the energy supply in the decades to come,' Environmental Protection Agency administrator Gina McCarthy told the House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on Wednesday.

McCarthy's testimony, her first since being confirmed to the EPA post in July, came two days before the agency is due to unveil the first major rule of the Obama administration's new climate change action plan."